Free (Kindle KDP) The Kommandant's Mistress by Sherri Szeman [WWII Historical Drama]

[ATDrake]

Something different as a change in the KDP exclusive-or-else-but-you-get-5-days-free-out-of-90-in-which-to-dump-your-book-in-where-it-will-be-overlooked-amidst-all-the-other-dumped-books slushpile.

Today's feature is a former NY Times bestseller (admittedly a distinction not that hard to reach since Star Wars tie-in novels regularly make it). More to the point, it's an historical literary drama which has not only won a niche literary fiction award, but has also been minorly discussed in literary and academic journals, in part due to its subject matter.

We also have some sfnal shorts by reasonably prominent established writers and a nifty annotated Twilight Zone episode script and another interesting backlist historical drama.

The Kommandant's Mistress by Alexandria Constantinova Szeman was originally published in 1993 by HarperCollins under the pseudonym "Sherri Szeman" apparently because her editor said the author's actual name "wouldn't fit on the cover of a book".

This is an historical literary drama set during the Holocaust and according to the author, has won the "University of Rochester's Janet Heidinger Kafka Award for "the outstanding book of prose fiction written by an American woman" (1994)" and been translated into 10 languages.

The blurb for this quotes praise from prominent newspapers, and there are favourable reviews from the Library Journal and Booklist attached to the original hardcover edition. Plus apparently it made the NY Times bestseller list on September 3rd, 1993 according to their website, though I can't parse where it placed since their article is horribly formatted.

Anyway, the author now offers it in a revised and expanded 20th Anniversary edition with commentary and extras.

Free for who knows how long with DRM @ Amazon main UK DE ES FR IT

Description
Powerful and provocative, haunting and disturbing, lyrical yet profoundly unsettling, The Kommandant's Mistress portrays the complex power struggle between the Kommandant of a Nazi Concentration Camp and the Jewish inmate he forces to become his "mistress".

In this mesmerizing depiction of sexual subjugation, in which the conventional labels of "torturer" and "victim" obscure the unexpected realities of those positions, a young woman must survive the horrors of her daily servitude inside the Kommandant's office while struggling with the moral obligation to aid others in the Camp. Aware of virtually every secret of the Kommandant's professional and personal life, the woman bears witness to the grotesque reality of the camp even as she memorizes the intimate details of a man fighting his own tortured existence.

After the war, their "relationship" in the Camp proves inescapable, as the past they share pursues them both, culminating in an encounter that is as shocking and disturbing as it is inevitable.

This Revised & Expanded, 20th Anniversary Edition contains new material: the author's original "story" and "poem" which formed the inspiration for the book; a Chapter-by-Chapter Scene Index; Discussion Questions for teachers, students, and book groups; and a preface which reveals the writing and original publishing history of the novel as well as an explanation of the author's name-change.

Preliminaries from the slushpile, which is still settling. Subject to change if someone decides their book's been mistakenly freebied and yanks it early or only set it to 12 hours, so caveat 1-clicker.

Two late sf/fantasy additions to yesterday's thread to start with:

ISFDBed Star Wars tie-in writer Dave Wolverton writing as David Farland offers a fantasy short: Siren Song at Midnight

Previously-title-featured ISFDBed Philip K. Dick award-nominee William Barton returns with an apparently satirical future commercial society sf tale: Cast a Cold Eye (Novelette)

Paul Chitlik and Jeremy Bertrand Finch offer their a specially commented and enhanced with behind-the-scenes pictures version of their screenplay for an episode of the 1980s revival of the popular TV show: The Twilight Zone: "Room 2426" (TV script)

Pocket Books-published Peter Michael Rosenberg returns with a literary fantasy adventure quest short: The Fig Tree - a fable

Ryne Douglas Peterson returns with 1995-William Morrow agents vs terrorism political thriller: Capitol Punishment (An Art Jefferson Thriller)

Mary Ann Sullivan offers her 1985 YA drama set amidst the Northern Ireland conflict, which she says in the blurb was named as "a Notable 1984 Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies by the National Council of Social Studies": Child of War

Linda Pendleton, widow of Don Pendleton of Mack Bolan Executioner action/adventure fame, returns to offer the self-explanatory: Shattered Lens, Catherine Winter, Private Investigator (Catherine Winter Series)

Minor ISFDBed Jordan Krall returns to offer the self-explanatory: Squid Kills! ((Bizarro Crime Fiction))

Ellora's Cave-published Michelle M. Pillow returns with an sfnal alternate reality-crossover f/m erotic romance: Fighting Lady Jayne (Divinity Warriors)

ISFDBed David Bain returns with a supernatural story that original appeared in Terminal Frights magazine (may be a repeat): Vigil

Sourcebooks-published Lisa Renee Jones returns with the start of her paranormal romance series and helpfully points out that one of her official Sourcebooks releases is temporarily on sale for 99 cents across multiple venues and you should get it while you can: Hot Vampire Kiss (Vampire Wardens 1)

Bob Mayer writing as Robert Doherty returns with another one of his conspiracy/apocalyptic techno-thrillers, originally out from Berkley in 2001: ATLANTIS: DEVIL'S SEA

Minor ISFDBed Marilyn Peake returns with a post-apocalyptic short story: Trail of Bones and Excrement

Adams Media-published Derringer award-winner Stephen D. Rogers offers a collection of short solvable brainteasers: Three-Minute Mysteries 3

ISFDBed Tintin movie tie-in writer Alex Irvine offers another short story: The Truth About Ninjas (The Dream Curator and Other Stories)

Another one of these graphic novels for your collection of such: FUNHOUSE OF HORRORS (APP BOOK) (JAZAN WILD'S FUNHOUSE OF HORRORS)

Award-winning South African expat playwright Ian Fraser returns with the theatre script for one of his plays: Charles Manson

Happy reading, if indeed you manage to spot something you think you might like.

[ATDrake]

A few more things which have popped up since the slushpile seems to have settled:

Crossroads Press offers a reprint of the late William Bayer's 1980 St. Martin's-published crime thriller: Punish Me With Kisses

UK writer Colin Falconer offers his 1999-Aldo small-pressed/2003-Bantam-paperbacked historical novel set shortly after the conquest of Mexico: Aztec

Glenn Smith says that he has published with two specified publishers, and this is true, but only for values of minor presumably educational textbook-looking non-fiction. Here is his global crime-conspiracy thriller novel if you are interested: Erotic Resolution (A Flint Rock Novel)

Don Handfield says that his Sliding Doors-like 2nd chance time-travel novel about a football player has been turned into a major motion picture, and there is indeed an IMDB entry for a film by that name with that plot, so: Touchback

Books We Love/BWLPP have a few more freebie additions to their catalogue, some out from previously-published authors.

And, in case you're making travel plans to visit or know someone who might be, this may or may not come in handy for both general and specific advice: How to Travel in Canada- A guidebook for Persons with a Disability

[melmac]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Don Handfield says that his Sliding Doors-like 2nd chance time-travel novel about a football player has been turned into a major motion picture, and there is indeed an IMDB entry for a film by that name with that plot, so: Touchback

Should be showing at your local cinema shortly was at mine the other day and saw a preview trailer for it

[ATDrake]

Feature still free, minor updates below. And I notice that amidst all the porn and personal belief-manifesto tracts, someone has finally officially hybridized "werepires".

Previously-much-included Anne Frasier/Theresa Weir presents a multi-author Halloween-themed anthology: Deadly Treats

Previously-title-featured syndicated newspaper cartoonist Carol Lay returns with another mini-collection of her comics: THE END?: A Story Minute Selection (Reformatted)

ISFDBed Iain Rowan writing as I.F. Rowan offers an historical China-set supernatural adventure novella which originally appeared in Black Gate magazine: Welcome to the Underworld The 1st in this series is free to all via Smashwords.

Formerly title-featured Vera Nazarian, who also runs the Norilana press sf/fantasy new & reprint line, has apparently removed her previously-freebied humourous fantasy novella which was free for some time during Read an Ebook Week and made it KDP exclusive: The Witch Who Made Adjustments On the upside, she seems to have put back some of her formerly KDP-exclusivized titles on Smashwords, and apparently a couple even show up at their old listings as well, so prior purchasers will be able to benefit from updated editions and so forth.

Ellora's Cave-published Angelia Sparrow offers a collection of sf/fantasy-oriented lesbian adventure tales, including steampunk and AU shorts: Adventuresses

UK writer Roger Morris, who won several awards for his Faber & Faber-published mystery/thrillers written as R.N. Norris, offers a collection of short stories: The Bridge that Bunuel Built

Kenneth Burstall, who has had a few short stories appear out from newbie startup Steel Magnolia Press, which is run by minor ISFDBed Phoenix Sullivan, has a couple of mini-collections of his sfnal shorts: Linkage for the lot

ISFDBed Tintin movie tie-in writer Alex Irvine offers another short: The Word He Was Looking For Was Hello (The Dream Curator and Other Stories)

Decadent Publishing offer a contemporary romance by Lindsay Ordone: Most Eligible

If you happened to pick up that Stoner's Cookbook way back when, here's something to supplement it: 10 Cannabis Cake Recipes Sadly, none of the cakes call for "baking" in a cat litter box this time around, but at least the author says that he has actually tried and tested all of them.

Reasonably significant backlist novel or established print author repeats from John Whitbourn, John Matthews, fellow MR member author Paul Levine, Ruth Nestvold, Consuelo Saah Baehr, Michele Scott, Midge Raymond. Books We Love/BWLPP also have a few new things from established authors which you can find via the publisher aggregate links supplied upthread.

Happy reading, if you manage to spot something you think you might like, or find that the recipes in that last book are indeed as nutritious and delicious as advertised (and taste nothing like chicken).

[koland]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

If you happened to pick up that Stoner's Cookbook way back when, here's something to supplement it: 10 Cannabis Cake Recipes Sadly, none of the cakes call for "baking" in a cat litter box this time around, but at least the author says that he has actually tried and tested all of them.

What? No reviews?

[Dr. Drib]

Got a few.

Thank you.


Don